From Across the Room
by LeslieSophia
Summary: 5 times Aaron and Emily's eyes meet from across the room in times of disaster and the 1 time they don't have to look across a room to find each other.
1. The First Time

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

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**1\. When he saves your ass**

His presence always gave her a sense of steadying encouragement. She wouldn't exactly call it comfort, but seeing his stoic, determined demeanor offered her a sense of security. Perhaps it was because he was always so level-headed and straightforward, unlikely to pull any fast surprises or dirty tricks. There was always a thrill coursing through her as she headed to the White House for a meeting with him, with the promise of a good challenge and a good probability of a satisfying outcome. That's what gave her the reassurance she needed as their SUV sped down the streets of Washington towards the Capitol site. Aaron knew what he was doing, and Kirkman had all the right intentions about the visit, so nothing would go wrong with the first appearance out of the White House, right?

But their conversation in the car only put her more on edge as they neared the bombing site. Emily had to take a moment to gather herself before she stepped out of the car, taking Aaron's hand to help her out of the vehicle. As she gazed out at the pile of rubble that used to be the Capitol, her heel caught on a crack in the ground and she stumbled against the hood of the car, the Secret Service agent's hand closing around her arm to steady her.

"It's fine, I'm fine." Emily said quietly, surreptitiously wiping away the tears before they could spill over her cheeks. She looked out at what used to be the Capitol, the reality of last night's bombing finally hitting her like a sharp blow to her chest. She hadn't cried yet. Even before, while she had watched the news coverage, or pondered at the nonexistence of the Hill, it had all been about work. There had been no time to be afraid, to grieve, or to cry.

She waited outside with Aaron and Seth as the President went in for his briefing with Deputy Director Atwood. The first responders continued working, calling out once as they poured over the ruins. She watched the blank mask fall over Aaron's face as he regarded the scene in front of him while Seth's face showed unhindered horror.

"My God," She whispered, feeling her throat begin to close up again, but then the President emerged again and she straightened up, her eyes staying on Kirkman as he began speaking into the megaphone, letting his words comfort her, nearly missing the look Aaron threw her over his shoulder as he pulled his phone out of his jacket. Emily moved closer to Seth to peer over his shoulder to see what the commotion was about. Cold dread washed over her as she watched the boy in Michigan be brutally assaulted and she jammed her hand into her pocket to dig out her own phone, her mind spinning with ways to do damage control.

But Aaron beat her to it, as he leapt into action the second the reporters began diverting their questions to Michigan, "The President is not taking any questions right now, thank you." He yelled, moving towards Kirkman, but Kirkman moved closer to the clamor of reporters as he strained to hear their questions.

Emily looked up from the news article as the gaggle of reporters increased in volume, pushing forward against the barricade to get their inquiries answered. There was a sudden crash as the barricade broke and screams erupted into the air, an agent's voice yelling the one word that no one ever wanted to hear so soon after a bombing.

"_Gun!"_

Beside her, Hookstraten was instantly pulled back to the vehicles by her Secret Service detail and Kirkman was swallowed up by a sea of agents. Seth was calling her name over the chaos as she stood, frozen to the spot. _Was that a gunshot she heard?_

All around her bodies were moving; men in black suits were swarming around to tighten the perimeter and get all personnel inside their respective vehicles. Her eyes fixed on Aaron, pushing the First Lady towards her Secret Service agents as guns were drawn on the crowd, causing them to recoil in panic and surge backwards onto each other.

"Emily!" Aaron's eyes focused on hers and suddenly he was pushing agents out of his way to get to her, grabbing her by her shoulders as he ran them to their car, his arm wrapped protectively around her, more or less throwing her into the SUV before getting in himself, pulling the door shut quickly, glancing back to make sure Seth was in his seat behind them.

"Go, go!" He told the agents and they sped off. Aaron turned o Emily, his eyes hard, concerned, and she half expected him to yell at her for not moving but his voice was surprisingly gentle as he asked, "Are you okay?" His eyes scanned her for any signs of injury as she nodded, willing her hands not to shake as she tried to buckle herself in. His eyes lingered on her for one more second before throwing another look in Seth's direction and pulling out his Blackberry.

"Get me Michigan. Now!"

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**My unnecessary editorial: Here we go, Season 3 is finally out! I *will* finish this fic before I write anything new involving S3 so bear with me while I revel in the first couple seasons before I finish watching S3 –no spoilers please- except that wow, Kal Penn was not kidding when he said to put the kids to bed first… I think they dropped more f-bombs in the first 5 minutes of ep1 than Kirkman said "Son of a bitch" in all of S1-2…**


	2. The Second Time

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

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**2\. When she literally falls into his arms**

"He doesn't care about approval numbers." Emily piped up from her spot in the doorway to the Oval. Both the President and the Aaron turned in her direction and she smiled back at them.

"Em, you look lovely." Kirkman said warmly as Aaron ducked his head shyly, shifting on his feet, before continuing the conversation with the President. The stopped as they reached the elevator that connected to the Residence, just in time to see Alex Kirkman step out of the doors. Kirkman stepped forward to greet his wife while Aaron and Emily hung back, observing from a respectable distance. Emily couldn't help but smile as she watched them interact. The White House hadn't taken away their romance, their support for each other, it was like they were still in their early days of their relationship. It was a rare thing in Washington.

"It's uh-, it's a nice dress." Aaron commented, drawing Emily's attention back to him as he gestured at her black number. Emily held back a satirical response to his clear awkwardness and accepted his compliment with a gracious nod, going back to business.

"So, MacLeish and his wife will also be attending. I think it would be a good idea for us to talk to him and pitch the idea of VP to him. You know, gauge the reaction in a more informal setting so we don't get turned down again."

Aaron nodded, clearly relieved to be talking about a topic he was more comfortable with. "That's a good idea." He lowered his voice, with a glance in the President's direction. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

Emily sighed, glancing down the hall, "He's good with crowds. Personable. Hopefully that will appeal to the Governors before they descend upon him tomorrow." Emily added under her breath, sharing a look with Aaron before the Kirkmans walked back to them.

"Shall we?"

…

"He looks great up there, doesn't he?" Alex whispered to Emily as they watched Kirkman take the podium and begin his speech.

"Yes, he does." Emily reassured her, but she knew he still had a long way to go to win over the Governors after what happened with Royce. She cut her eyes over to Seth and Aaron's direction and almost as if he felt her move from across the room, he turned his head and met her gaze dead-on, giving her a small nod and quirk of his eyebrows as if to say _our boy is doing good._ Emily gave him a small smile and turned her attention back to the President. She watched on proudly as he made the crowd laugh, as he drew applause with his encouragement of a new political future. She was just about to relax when she heard it. A quick smattering that could easily be mistaken for a large bag of heavy marbles being dropped on the ballroom floor to the novice ear. But coupled with the yells of Secret Service to get down and given the recent tragedy that gave way to the new presidency, there was no way the crowd was going to make that mistake tonight.

Alex was screaming beside her as they dropped to the ground, her arms around her head before Secret Service converged around her and she was gone in the next instant. Somewhere, Kirkman's voice was yelling for his wife, nearly drowned out by screams around them. People were running every which way, calling out for their spouses, for their colleagues as Secret Service began herding people to safety, others pulling out their guns and securing the perimeter.

_Aaron_.

Everyone had dropped to the floor so fast that she hadn't seen if anyone had been hit. Seth and Aaron had been closer to the windows than her and Alex. She willed panic not to take over as she reached for her clutch on the floor, noticing Alex's abandoned shawl on the floor. Her fingers grasped the flimsy fabric as she stood, trying to look for the familiar faces of her friends. She caught a glimpse of dark, gelled hair and she moved towards it but was nearly knocked over by the Minnesotan governor. She barely heard his passing apology as he rushed away, but she had already lost sight of the person she had her eyes on.

"Emily!"

For a second, she was afraid she had imagined his rough voice but then she saw his side profile, the sharp nose and his furrowed eyebrows that she swear she had memorized from all that time spent with him trying to put together a Cabinet for Kirkman.

"Aaron?" She called out as the crowd jostled again. Her arms reached out to clear her path as she fought against the crowd.

"Ms. Rhodes! You need to come with me, now."

Emily spun around to see the Secret Service beckoning at her. "No, not yet-," She shoved the shawl into the agent's hand, noticing that she had been gripping it so tight that her fingernails had left indents in her palm through the fabric.

"Em!" His voice was closer now, and Emily's head whipped back around as their eyes finally met.

"Oh my God, Aaron-," Emily lurched forward, nearly tripping over someone's leg as they passed by, her hands grasping at him as she fell into his outstretched arms.

"Are you okay?" His hands came up briefly to hold her face, his eyes scanning her body, gentle just like the day at the Capitol sight, but his grip on her was ironclad as he held Emily close to him. Seth bent down to pick up her clutch, which had fallen to the ground when Emily grabbed hold of Aaron.

"Sir, we need to get you up to the Residence right away." The agent materialized again and Aaron nodded quickly, his hand shifting to Emily's back as another agent appeared on her other side, taking her upper arm, leading them out of the ballroom and swiftly down the hall to the elevator.

"What's are they saying out there?" Aaron asked once they were all safely in the elevator.

"The threat has been eliminated, Mr. Shore." The agent reported.

"What do you mean, 'eliminated?'" Seth asked, leaning forward as he pulled his Blackberry out of his pocket. "Was he captured?"

"No sir, he was neutralized." The agent replied calmly, "By Mike Ritter."

Emily paused. There was something not quite right with the agent's tone of voice, "Where is Mike now?"

"He was hit, Ms. Rhodes. He's on his way to George Washington Memorial now."

"Oh, no." Emily, sighed, her eyes meeting Aaron's equally concerned ones. A silent conversation transgressed between them until Emily sighed and nodded, looking down at the floor. She would have to be the one to tell the President about Mike.

"Uh, what just happened?' Seth blurted from his position behind them. He looked between them as Aaron just sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets as he straightened up, preparing to see the President and do damage control. Emily afforded Seth a quick look of reassurance over her shoulder before turning back around and gathering herself as well, her fingers rubbing lightly over her palm to sooth the dull ache her nails had created, not missing the way Aaron's eyes flickered down to observe the movement between glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, checking on her once again. But she continued to stare straight ahead knowing what his concerned questions would be.

"Okay, you guys spend too much time together." Seth concluded and as usual with his blatant comments, no one responded.


	3. The Third Time

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

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**3\. When he might be the White House traitor**

"Emily Rhodes." She answered brusquely, stepping away from the Presidential entourage.

"Ms. Rhodes, it's Amanda at the switchboard." The woman on the other end spoke succinctly.

"Yes?" Emily felt herself tense up in apprehension. This investigation into the staff previously serving during Richmond's administration had been dogging her all day and she wanted nothing more than to find the traitor quickly and cleanly and clear Aaron's name.

"You asked me to look deeper into Charles Langdon's phone records June 23." Amanda began and Emily quickly glanced over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being missed. "Uh, turns out, he wasn't in his office that day."

"I'm sorry?" That didn't make sense. The call had to have come from Langdon.

"I double-checked his schedule. Mr. Langdon was on an overseas trip to Geneva."

Emily closed her eyes, fearing the answer to her next question, "Then who made the call?"

"His deputy, Aaron Shore." Amanda responded crisply.

"Thank you." Emily said faintly, turning around in dismay. Her heart sank as her eyes met Aaron's from across the balcony. His lips curved into a small smile aimed at her before he broke eye contact to lean closer to the President, speaking quietly to him, preparing him to take the podium. Emily walked stiffly back to her seat next to Aaron, ignoring the glance he sent her way as she sat down, her entire body humming with tension, her insides numb as various explanations jumbled together in her mind as to why Aaron placed that call to the Secretary of Defense. It was perfectly reasonable that Langdon could have directed him to make that call without Aaron everyone knowing the origins or content of that file. He was likely just following orders that seemed no different than any of the hundreds of requests Langdon threw his way on a daily basis. Or maybe, the man sitting next to her, the man whom she had kissed last night, was perfectly placed within the administration to take part in the conspiracy to take down the US government.

_Jesus, she had almost started a relationship with a mass murderer._

Emily shook her head slightly, trying to clear her thoughts before she headed down a slippery slope that robbed Aaron of any benefit of the doubt that he deserved.

"So help me God." MacLeish finished.

_God help us all._

The MacLeishes stepped forward, waving at the cheering crowd as flags waved in front of them and Emily stood with the rest of the people on the balcony to applaud them.

Suddenly, a loud crack penetrated the air over the dull roar of the crowd, and a ripple of screams breached the balcony as the President and First Lady tumbled to the ground, Kirkman on top of his wife as he attempted to shield her.

"What happened?' Emily screamed, lunging forward towards the Kirkmans but strong hands fastened around her shoulders, holding her back. "_No!"_ She screamed catching sight of the flash of red on Alex's scarf, fighting to move towards them but it was too late- Secret Service had already formed a tight circle around the Kirkmans.

"Emily, we need to get out of here!" Aaron said urgently into her ear as others ran around them to seek safety within the Capitol building but she stood frozen to her spot, screaming in horror as the black suits shifted and she saw Kirkman fall to onto his back, a dark stain spreading grotesquely across his white shirt.

"_Emily,"_ Aaron repeated, but her legs seemed to have lost all feeling as she listened to Alex's wails for help amid the screams as the crowd began to catch on and chaos ensued below them. Aaron's hold on her tightened as he looped his other arm around her waist, pulling her along with him, his body shielding hers as he all but carried her inside the Capitol building, passing by the military paramedics as the bolted past with a stretcher.

"Oh my God, oh my God," Emily sobbed, tears flowing freely down her cheeks as Aaron took her in his arms, which only made her cry harder. She couldn't even be comforted by her closest friend, the person who used to give her such a sense of security without wondering if he was somehow involved in this assassination attempt of the man who was the closest thing she ever had to a father.

"Em, are you okay?" He asked, bending down to look her in the eyes when she began gasping for breath, trying to calm herself and stop the sobs.

"Sir, we need to move, now." Secret Service ordered and the next second, Aaron's arms were helping her move back to their vehicles as she wiped furiously at her eyes.

Emily regained control of herself in the car as the rushed down the street behind the military escort surrounding the President's emergency vehicle. Emily found herself dumped in an empty waiting room while Seth as Aaron was promptly escorted away for a briefing. Wordlessly, Seth turned on the news but before the anchor could even finish her current sentence, his phone was in his hands and he was dialing while a string of curses slipped past his lips.

"Unbelievable." Seth muttered, hanging up after his third infuriated yelling spree at another network.

Emily finally tore herself away from the news, "What the hell is taking so long, we should have heard something by now." Since they had been inside the waiting room, not a single soul had stepped foot in or out. The doctors and nurses that rushed by in the nearby wing had ignored them completely and Emily swore that the Secret Service agent posted outside the door hadn't so much as blinked in the last few minutes.

"Emily…" Seth said gingerly, pointing at her coat and she looked down to see the splash of dark red on the lapel, right next to her pin. Emily felt herself begin to panic as her nails scratched aggressively at the dried blood. Common sense would have told her that a simple trip to the dry cleaner's would take care of it, but her emotions got the better of her has she buried her face in her hands.

"Hey… It's gonna be okay." Seth told her soothingly, moving towards her.

"You don't know that. Nobody knows that." Just when things were beginning to look up for the country and for herself, it all came crashing down catastrophically.

The door swung open and Aaron walked in, talking agitatedly into the phone while Emily straightened up, a guarded look falling over her face as Seth stepped away from her.

"The NSA, FBI, every local law enforcement's on the hunt for the shooter. They think he's in the metro area but that's like saying the needle is somewhere in the haystack." Aaron reported, his voice rough. Emily kept her head down, unable to meet his eyes for hear she'd lose it again. She'd cried enough today, it was time for her to pull herself together.

Aaron's voice softened and Emily saw him turn to her out of the corner of her eye, "You okay?" He asked.

She finally looked up at him and nodded, "We should get talking points to Congressional leadership, the USUN and the acting cabinet secretaries."

"It's already been taken care of. Communications took charge of it." Aaron replied, gesturing at Seth.

"Yeah, I'll make sure accurate information is out."

Emily saw Alex approaching them first, her gently smile already giving Emily all the good news she needed to breathe easier. The senior staff all relaxed visibly as the First Lady reported his condition.

"Um, I know he wants to see you wall, but if we could please not overwhelm him."

"Of course, ma'am," Seth and Aaron murmured and Emily reached out to squeeze the First Lady's hand before leading the way forward towards Kirkman's hospital room. Aaron's hand gently touched Emily's back, guiding her, but she flinched before she could stop herself. Seth threw a curious look in their direction but said nothing as they continued texting on his phone.

"Sorry, I guess my nerves haven't quite settled." Emily said in undertone, not quite meeting his eyes as she tried to smile at him.

"It's fine, no need to apologize." Aaron responded softly, but Emily saw the nearly undetectable hurt look in his eyes, the same look of confusion and rejection that had flashed across his face when she had asked him to reschedule their date earlier that night with her thinly veiled excuse.

She yearned for his comfort, his analytical mind in a situation where it would be impossible for her to confide in him. His dedication towards Kirkman, his interactions with her, his loyalty to his country- it had all seemed genuine. How could a traitor possibly fake all that?


	4. The Fourth Time

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

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**4\. When Aaron was right**

"Emily, I need you to come with me." Aaron called from the doorway of her office.

"One second, Aaron," she responded, sparing him a quick glance from her spot at the table. "Go ahead, Victor." She said, flipping through the file he had just handed her.

"Actually-," Aaron walked into the room before Victor could start, "We need to cut this briefing short." He said firmly, placing a hand on the able as he towered over Emily. She took one look at him, the hard lines on his face, squared shoulders, a nearly undetectable glint of uneasiness in his eyes.

"Okay," Emily relented, "Sorry guys," She cut her eyes to her staff and offered them a consolatory smile as they packed up and got up from their seats. Stacking her files, Emily swept them into her arms and carried them to her desk, leaving them in a neat pile before turning back to Aaron.

"What is it?" She asked, examining his tense expression as he placed a hand on her back, guiding her gently but quickly to the door.

"We need to get to the bunker, now." He said in a low voice, his head bent close to her ear and she watched with alarm as a Secret Service agent standing outside her door followed closely after them.

"_What?_" She hissed and Aaron's arm fell away from her back as he spotted the President rounding a corner in front of them.

"What've we got, Aaron?" Kirkman asked without preamble.

"Quantifiable proof of spent nuclear fuel in the DC area, fuel that can be used to make a dirty bomb."

Emily looked down at her phone as she finally got the evacuation memo, "All essential personnel are headed down to Command Ops."

"I need to talk to my kids." Kirkman said, just as Emily expected him to, and she reassured him quickly that they would be safe in Yellowstone with Trey. But he paused again, just as they were about to step into the elevator. "I need to address the White House staff first." He said. He was stalling, and Emily couldn't blame him. She was having a hard time accepting the fact that the dirty bomb was in the DC area, not two years after the bombing on the Capitol.

"Respectfully, sir, if you don't move your feet right now, I'm going to have to pick you up and carry you." Mike told him and seemed to work as they all boarded the elevator, taking them down to Command Ops.

…

"Hey, how're you doing?" Aaron caught up to her an hour later after they had left Command Ops for the bunker.

"Mm, hey." Emily said, swallowing her mouthful of water, "Not so great. Lyor's waxing poetic about how we're all going to die unsatisfying deaths and Kendra's full of bad news about the Moss investigation."

Aaron fell into step with her as they made their way through the bunker. "Actually, I, uh, was referring to the Seth thing."

"Oh." Emily kept her eyes fixed in front of her, her cheeks heating up.

"Yeah, I just talked to him." Aaron said awkwardly.

Emily glanced at him out the corner of her eye, holding her chin up higher, "We're fine. It's fine. Um, there's nothing, I mean it was-,"

"Yeah, I got it. Sorry I asked."

Emily looked over at him, noticing how flustered he was as well. "No, no, it's fine." She offered him a small smile, "Thanks for checking in." She told him sincerely and Aaron nodded, his eyes following the tips of his shoes. Emily cleared her throat, "So how are things going on your end with the bomb?"

"Not good." Aaron rolled his shoulders back at the change in subject, "Still no sign of the bomb or Joon Kim. We may have a lead on the bomb maker, though. Hannah and Blakey are working it through now."

Emily sighed, stopping in her tracks and turning to face him, "Aaron, can I ask you something?"

Aaron turned, taking a step back towards once he realized that she had stopped walking. "What is it?"

She looked up at him and in a steady voice asked, "Do you think the bomb will actually explode before we get to it?"

Aaron looked down briefly, gathering his thoughts while Emily waited patiently. Finally, he looked back up, "I don't know." He said hesitantly.

"Oh, come on, Aaron. Don't coddle me, I'm really asking right now. I need to know if I should mentally prepare myself to be holed up down here for the long haul with Lyor asking me for 'African violet' Mentos. I remember what you said to the President earlier. You said 'when' the bomb explodes, not 'if.'" Emily pressed and Aaron watched her with sad eyes.

"Okay," An unreadable expression fell over his face as he pulled Emily into a nook, away from the eyes of the Secret Service lining the halls. "I think there is a very likely possibility that we may not get to the bomb in time." He admitted, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Okay." Emily nodded, steeling herself. Part of her hadn't really believed it until he said so out loud. "Okay," she repeated, her voice a little more breathy and she began to move past him to start down the hall again.

"Wait, Emily-," Aaron reached out and grabbed her arm as she brushed past him, "If the bomb does explode and something happens to us-,"

His lips were on hers the next second as he kissed her, hard. She froze in surprise for the first few seconds until his hand came to rest on her waist and she melted into the kiss, deepening it as his lips softened against hers.

"Great," She panted as they broke apart, "Now I can go forth to my death in peace now that we've done that."

Aaron sighed, pulling away with a grimace but Emily caught his hand, tugging him back to her.

"I'm kidding. That was very apocalyptical romantic of you. Come here." She leaned up to brush her lips against his as his arms came around her again. Before they could kiss again, Aaron's SAT phone began ringing. Emily pursed her lips in resignation as she returned her weight back to the ground and Aaron pulled out his phone with an apologetic look at Emily before turning away to answer it.

"Aaron Shore. Hey, Hannah-, you found him? Where?" He listened for a second, casting another look at Emily as she waited patiently. "Okay, I'll let him know." He finished his eyes on Emily.

"They found Joon? Go." Emily raised her eyebrows in question and Aaron paused for a second as if to say something, but at the last second, changed his mind and nodded before turning on his heel.

…

"Thanks again for staying late, everyone." Emily said, standing up with the rest of her staff as they nodded, filing out of the office. She looked down at her watch, and then at the pile of briefings waiting for her eyes to look over before making a quick decision to go get something to eat first from the café. On her way out, she spotted Lyor and Seth walking down the hallway, arguing about something or the other and she quickly turned down another hall to avoid them before they could see her.

Aaron was just walking past the end of that hall and she called out to him, quickening her pace down the hall to catch up to him. He turned and she saw his other hand holding his phone pressed to his ear. It felt like slow motion as their eyes met from across the hall and she watched as his face paled as he listened to the device in his hand, his eyes sad, lips parted slightly in disbelief, horror, maybe grief. Emily stopped abruptly, barely noticing as his hand fell back to its side, his shoulders slumping in defeat. The look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

_The bomb had been a decoy. _

_A second, dirty bomb had exploded on US soil._

_Aaron had been right. _

She found herself standing in front of him the next second, his hand reaching out to grip his elbow, almost as if steadying himself against her before they wordlessly rushed down the hall together to inform their Commander-in-Chief.

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**Update is coming soon! The last two chapters are already written and I can promise that they're much better than this chapter. **


	5. The Fifth Time

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

* * *

**5\. When she gets shot**

"Hey you." Emily chimed as she spotted Aaron.

"Hey," Aaron stopped, waiting for her to catch up, "How's Kendra?"

Emily reached him and they continued down the hall, "Shaken up, but doing pretty well, otherwise. Mike and the detective are taking her statement now."

"Good," Emily followed him into his office, "I reached out to the GOP leadership, they'll be here in a couple hours."

"Okay," Aaron tossed her a takeout menu from his drawer, which she caught deftly, "I figure we can try to wrangle the plane funding from them. The F44 production keeps hitting setbacks and at some point, we're just going to have to say 'stop.'" He pointed his chin at the menu in Emily's hands, "Their breakfast special with the omelet is pretty good."'

"Hm, okay." Emily handed the menu back to him as his landline rang. "Go ahead." She pulled her Blackberry out as she waited.

"Aaron Shore. Yeah. Wait, what?" Aaron sighed, "Okay, I'll be there soon." He hung up the phone somewhat dejectedly and looked up at Emily guiltily.

She arched her eyebrow at him, "National Security emergency?"

"No. Hannah Wells." Aaron got up from his chair, grabbing his coat from the coatrack behind him.

"Hannah Wells? I thought she didn't work for the White House anymore."

"She doesn't." He replied, pulling on his jacket.

"Then where are you going?"

Aaron sighed, "To bail her ass out of jail. Look, sorry about breakfast. I'll make it up to you, yeah? Dinner tonight?"

Emily smiled, she couldn't help herself when Aaron had that apologetic, pleading look in his eye, "Yeah, okay."

"Alright, I'll be back soon." He said, brushing past her, his lips landing lightly on the side of her head. It was so quick, if anyone was walking by and noticed, they might have missed it in a blink of an eye.

…

"Emily, I just finished giving my statement to Detective Pineda." Emily looked behind her to see the White House Counsel coming out of the Oval.

"Great, I'm on my way down to get some food, join me?"

Kendra sighed, "Sure. God, this is all just so surreal."

"Kendra, I'm so sorry." Emily said as they walked into the café to the breakfast spread.

"You know where my mind keeps going?"

"Where?" Emily grabbed a plate, tucking her goji kombucha under her arm as she reached for a muffin.

"Every hang up I've had in the last six months, every time something got lost in the mail…"

"Yeah, well, my mind would be going there too, but that doesn't mean there's a connection." Emily said, knowing how hard her friend was taking the whole situation.

Kendra blanched as Emily tried to offer her a croissant. There were two kinds of people when it came to hangovers. Those like Kendra who turned her head slightly from the smells of baked goods, her lips thinning out as she tried to calm her stomach, and Emily, who filled her plate happily, digging into her muffin eagerly.

"I know Ritter is chasing down every lead, but it's my home, you know? And what if they had found me?"

Emily glanced over at her, "Okay," She said, changing the topic before Kendra could find a way to start blaming herself, "Let's talk about something else, then. Something that is _none_ of my business."

Kendra finally met her eyes, "Let's not." She said hastily.

"What? It's Trey. It's a big deal!" Emily hissed,

"It is a big deal," Kendra whispered back, leading her into the hallway.

_It wasn't a big deal, they were both sick of the White House walls, but they needed to finish the bill before the next morning, so Emily suggested going back to her place to order takeout and finish working on it. _

"Three months since I've been with anyone and I manage to hook up with Kirkman's brother right before someone nearly Patty Hearsts my ass?" Kendra seethed.

"_Wait, this isn't a good idea. You and Seth just broke up and Seth is still our friend." Aaron reluctantly pulled himself off her and Emily sat up as well, sighing, straightening her blouse. _

"_Yeah, you're right. What is it they say? You should wait double the time the relationship lasted?" Emily pushed the bottle of Scotch back on the table in front of them, reaching for the binder with the bill again._

"_Right, so 16 months?" _

_She brushed her hair back from her forehead, "That seems like an eon." _

"_Yeah." Aaron moved their empty glasses off his file folder before turning to look back at her. _

_Emily groaned, "Why does our timing always suck?"_

_His eyes were glued to her lips, "It doesn't have to." _

"Yeah, well, the timing's not great, but," Emily told Kendra, popping a bite of muffin into her mouth, her thoughts drifting.

"If I didn't have timing, I wouldn't have timing at all." Kendra grumbled.

_Her uncharacteristic giggle was swallowed up by his mouth capturing hers as he pushed her back onto the couch cushions, his fingers threading through her hair. _

"_I think we waited long enough," He said into the side of her heck before his teeth nipped lightly at her skin. She moaned in approval, her hands wandering up his muscular back, pulling him closer to her. _

"Think this could be a thing?' Emily asked.

"It was one night." Kendra told her resolutely.

Emily shrugged, "Well, it could be another one. I mean, he's smart, he's cute and you know where to find each other." She pointed out, pinching off another chunk of muffin.

"_Let me buy you breakfast." Aaron mumbled sleepily into her shoulder as Emily reached out to turn off her alarm clock. She flipped around under his arms to face him, the sunlight from her sheer curtains making his loose curls light brown in color. _

"_There's free breakfast in the café every morning, but hey, if you insist."_

_Aaron cracked an eye open to look at her, a dopey smile overtaking his features as he tightened his arms around her, drawing her closer to kiss her languidly, "I know just the place for breakfast perfect for a hangover." _

"_Mmm," She ran her hands through his hair, rolling on top of him with a coy smile. Her phone chimed and Emily reluctantly untangled herself from Aaron to reach it on her nightstand_

"_What is it?" Aaron sat up, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. . _

"_Kirkman. He wants to see us ASAP to check on the progress of the bill." Emily groaned as her stomach grumbled._

"_Okay, we can do breakfast after the meeting."_

_She leaned over to kiss him before getting out of bed, "You know where to find me." _

Kendra's voice brought her back to their conversation. "Yeah, I'll be in the bathroom with a baseball bat and he'll be trying to bash me with a candlestick. It's the beginning of every great love story."

_Well, better than accusing him of being a treasonous traitor after digging through his phone records. _

…

"How's Hannah?"

"Hey," Aaron turned, smiling at her as he finished hanging up his coat. "She's good. Free. Talking to Ethan West now."

Emily lifted an eyebrow, "So not exactly free. Here," She set the plate down on his table, sitting down and dumping the binder down next to it.

Aaron picked up the half-eaten apple with a dubious look and Emily shrugged.

"I was still hungry after I finished my muffin."

He chuckled, biting into it as Emily began flipping through the legislation again.

"So GOP is due here in 20 minutes…" Emily earmarked a page in the binder, "How do you think the questioning is going for the Moss investigation?"

"I don't know. It should be fine, appointing West was a smart move. Listen, about that, Emily-," Aaron leaned forward, folding his hands in front of him on the table, "You need to be more careful about leaking information."

Emily's head shot up, looking at Aaron in alarm.

"National Security Adviser." He said in explanation, pointing his thumbs at himself. "Look, I know why you did it." He said quickly as Emily opened her mouth to defend herself, "I'm just saying you need to be careful. Take it from the guy with first-hand experience. The FBI questioning that follows? Not so fun." He sat back in his chair, watching her carefully as he smoothed his tie.

"Okay, I hear you." Emily reached out and broke off a piece of Aaron's croissant right before he snatched the plate away from her grasp.

…

"Where did you disappear off to again?" Emily looked up from the phone in her hand as she exited Kendra's office, just in time to catch Aaron striding down the hall. She did a double take once she saw the brown paper bag in his hands, "Oh no."

"What? What is it?" He looked down at the bag in concern, checking for rips as she pulled him into her office, closing the door behind them.

"You were going to make me dinner?"

Aaron set his bag of groceries down on the table, "Yeah, why? Do you suddenly not eat food anymore?" He asked, still confused by her reaction.

"No, no, it's just- I told Kendra that she could crash on my couch tonight. I'm sorry, I totally forgot about dinner-,"

"Hey, it's fine." Aaron ran his hands down her arms soothingly, "Tell Kendra she can have the run of your place. You can stay with me tonight." He told her slyly, pecking her quickly on the cheek.

A quick knock on her door forced them to spring apart quickly as Lyor poked his head in, "Hey, CNBS in the President's study." Lyor's eyes darted between the two of them, "…I'll give you a moment." His expression was as placid as Aaron's was vexed as the political director left as quickly as he came.

"Hey, I'll call you after I go to Kendra's and get her things, okay?" Emily told Aaron, squeezing his hand gently before leaving the office as well.

…

"Ah," Emily winced and gasped as she felt the pressure from the second shot pierce her skin, the numbness finally seeping over her arm and shoulder.

"Okay, Ms. Rhodes, I'm going to begin your sutures now."

Emily drew in a deep breath and looked away as the surgeon picked up his instruments and began to sew. They had rushed her into a private room at the GW ER and the surgeon and nurse had attended to her immediately before the paramedics had even left. She tried to look anywhere but at the doctor sewing up her wound. She turned her head to the door, watching the nurses race by and doctors amble by, eyes glued to x-rays and papers when she saw the familiar figure. Her eyes met Aaron's from across the ER floor as he rushed down the hall, his face paler than she had ever seen it. She almost didn't notice the Secret Service shadow behind him, one agent stopping at the nurse's station to talk to the head nurse, the other posting himself discreetly at the doorway of her room as Aaron burst in.

"Jesus Christ, Emily-,"

"Aaron, how did you-I'm fine, it's just a graze." Emily reached her uninjured hand out to him once she saw his panicked expression and he grabbed it, his other hand gripping her shoulder as he pressed his lips against the side of her head.

The surgeon looked up, "Sir, if you could not jostle her,"

Aaron glared at the doctor over Emily's head, "How old are you anyway? You hardly look qualified-,"

Emily tugged at his hand, exasperatedly, "_Aaron,_ he's not the one you have to pick a fight with."

"I'm a resident sir." The doctor replied crisply, then in a warmer tone, "Ms. Rhodes, you're all set. 13 stitches. You're pretty lucky, considering." He told her, getting up and pushing away the instrument tray so he could begin pulling the curtain around her bed. Beside her, Aaron bristled and Emily quickly thanked the doctor before Aaron could snap at him again.

The doctor left and Aaron pulled a stool over to sit next to her, not letting go of her hand.

"How did you get here so fast?" Emily asked.

"I, uh, caught a ride with Secret Service as soon as Mike told me. They're placing a protective detail on you until the shooter is caught." He said distractedly.

Emily shifted over slightly to look at him, "Aaron, hey, look at me. I'm fine. Come here." She pulled his hand closer to her and cupped his cheek as he leaned in, bringing his lips to hers for a soft kiss. She moved over on the cot so he could sit facing her, his hands shifted to hold her face as he kissed her harder, nearly taking her breath away at the intensity of it before he pulled away, his thumb caressing her cheek.

"Thank God it was just a graze. You know what I kept thinking on my way over here?"

"What?" She whispered, her hand still resting on his bicep where she had steadied herself.

"That I never did get you that breakfast or dinner I owed you."

Emily laughed, her smile widening in relief as she watched the corners of his eyes finally crinkle into a smile. "I thought it was going to be something along the lines of 'that we should have gotten together sooner' but I guess it's good to know that you mean well by your promises, too."

Aaron pushed a strand of hair behind her ears, letting his fingers trace down the strand, "You already know full well that I do wish that."

The curtain pulled back and Aaron got off the bed, turning to face the nurse.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not interrupting." Emily said quickly as the nurse walked over to her injured arm.

"Ms. Rhodes, I have your discharge papers, here's a sling- let me help you with that- now, you'll have to wear this for the next 48 hours to make sure there isn't any extra strain on your arm and a prescription for some pain meds once the local anesthetic wears off."

"Oh I don't need those," Emily protested, "I actually have to get back to work tomorrow, so-,"

"She'll take them." Aaron said firmly, his arms crossed as he stood over her. Emily's eyes met his in a silent argument as the nurse handed Aaron the papers, giving him instructions on how to take the meds and care for the wound.

"Listen to your boyfriend, dearie. It's important that you take care of yourself before you take care of the President." The nurse left with a wink, leaving Emily dumbfounded and Aaron smirking smugly.

"Help me up, can you grab my things for me?" Emily held her arm out and waited until he walked over and pulled her up to sit on the cot.

"You're not going back to work tomorrow, you know." He told her, setting the papers down on the bed as he reached for the bag of her things.

"Well, I'm not going to let you baby me around all day."  
"Of course not, I'll be busy stepping in for you as Chief of Staff." Aaron said lightly, and Emily shot him a glare. "Here, call your mom before she hears about this from the news. I'm going to get you some water." Aaron kissed her cheek and Emily hissed, glancing quickly down the hallway.

"Aaron, someone could see-,"

"So let them. Secret Service will take them down the second they lift their phone, isn't that right, Brian?" Aaron raised his voice at the end.

"Yes sir."

Emily rolled her eyes, dialing on her phone as Aaron left, holding her phone up to her ear as it rang once before a flurry of movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

"Thank God, you're okay."

"Um, I'm fine, Mr. President, you didn't have to come." Emily stuttered, flustered by his sudden appearance. Just a couple seconds earlier and he wouldn't caught Aaron in the room.

"My Chief of Staff gets shot, the only place I'm going is to the hospital."

Emily could help but ask about the most recent updates but Kirkman was quick to shut her down.

"Emily, the only thing I want you to worry about is getting better, okay?"

She smiled at him, but her smile froze on her lips as she caught sight of Aaron approaching the room, one hand carrying a cup of water, the other typing on his phone. He seemed to realize a beat too late that the Secret Service outside her room had tripled in number and Emily ducked her head down, examining the phone in her hands but Mike had already noticed and turned to see what Emily had been looking at. She bit her lip as Kirkman turned as well.

"Mr. Shore, come in." Mike called out and Aaron walked in meekly, handing Emily her cup of water without meeting her eyes.

"Uh, Mr. President. Can I get you some water, or-?"

Kirkman smiled knowingly as he looked between the two of them, from Aaron's loosened tie to the flush on Emily's cheeks. "No, thank you, Aaron. I just came to see how Emily was doing but it looks like she is in capable hands. Make sure she takes those painkillers. It's going to hurt like a bitch when the anesthesia wears off."

Aaron cleared his throat, shifting his feet, "Yes sir."

Kirkman clapped Mike on the back, who was also smiling, "Come on, Mike. Let's leave them to it."


	6. Plus One

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

* * *

**+1 When the briefing from the State Department gets compromised **

"So I'm going to need your briefing on my desk this afternoon before we meet with Congressional leadership and Kirkman wants you to keep on the power outages caused by those string of storms in Nebraska, so I had them push our meeting with the WWF so you could focus on that."

Aaron crossed his arms, "They're not going to be too happy about that. We already pushed that meeting twice."

Emily sighed, closing the file in front of her, "I know, but I promised them that we would get to them by the end of business tomorrow. They'll have to accept that if they expect a sit-down with two of the President's senior staff."

"Oh!" Emily brought a hand up to her forehead as she suddenly remembered, "We've got that surprise party for Penny this morning too." The metal band of her wedding ring was cool against her skin as she pressed her fingers against her eyes, trying to think through a solution.

"Its fine, I'll have my deputy get things rolling and return calls while we go cut the cake and wish her happy birthday." Aaron said soothingly, walking around their kitchen counter and taking Emily's hands in his own.

"I'm sorry, I've just got so much on my plate, I can' believe I let that slip my mind." Emily said, snaking her hands around his back.

"Or maybe," Aaron's hands traveled south to rest on her slightly protruding belly, "It's the pregnancy hormones." He said before planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Maybe." Emily conceded, bringing her hands to rest on top of his as she tilted her head up so Aaron could kiss her lips. The broke apart as a faint wail sounded out of the baby monitor perched next to Emily's pile of folders.

"I'll get him." Aaron offered, pecking her cheek before disappearing out of the kitchen. Emily began pulling breakfast items out onto the counter, slicing up fruit to distribute into two glass bowls and one plastic green one. She heard high pitched giggling, followed by a lower rumble of laughter drifting down from the upstairs hall and she smiled to herself, a hand going to smooth the fabric of her blouse over her bump, which would be difficult to hide in a couple weeks.

She set the fruit on the table before prepping the espresso machine and scooping yogurt into a matching plastic bowl. Aaron's footsteps thudded down the stairs and the affable babble of a small child grew louder as they neared the kitchen.

"Look who's up," Aaron was grinning from ear to ear as he held their son in his arms, pressing a kiss to the 18-month-old boy's chubby cheek. The little boy reached his small arms out towards Emily as he spotted her, his legs kicking excitedly.

"Hi sweetie! Good morning," Emily took him in her arms, kissing his other cheek as Aaron's lips landed on her temple, rubbing her back before moving to the beeping espresso machine.

"He's changed, dressed and I got his diaper bag packed for the day. We're running low on baby wipes, though. Oh, and you should remember to offer the Finnish Ambassador coffee _or_ tea when you meet with him this afternoon. His preference changes based on his mood."

"Noted," Emily said, nuzzling her son's ear as he shrieked happily and tried to squirm away. She bucked him into his high chair, placing his yogurt and fruit in front of him on his tray as Aaron set down his sippy cup of milk.

"Here you go Lucas, and tea for your beautiful mother." Aaron handed Emily a steaming mug before leaning down to fasten a bib around Lucas' neck.

"Thanks, babe." She said and the toddler squealed in agreeance.

"Toast?" They continued to move around the kitchen as Aaron prepared the lunchbox for Lucas' daycare and Emily buttered their toast, spooning jam onto the slices and digging around the pantry for the last pack of crackers for snacktime at daycare.

"You know, I heard Kendra is going to be in town for the weekend. Maybe we should get Seth and take her out for drinks." Emily said as her fingers finally touched the plastic wrapping of cheese crackers that she was looking for.

"Good idea. I can ask Nadia to watch Lucas, she loves playing with the little guy." Aaron suggested.  
"Maybe we should ask Kirkman to come along. He would love to see Kendra too." Emily said without thinking.

"Right, except he can't just leave the White House and go for a beer. We'd basically be inviting ourselves over to the Residence." Aaron pointed out, capping a container and putting it into the lunchbag.

Emily groaned, walking towards him, "Oh God, and he's going to ask us to bring Lucas. We'd be drinking with our baby and the President's home. There's something very not right about that."

"Actually," Aaron cut his eyes to her as she leaned against the counter next to him, a teasing smile on his lips, "You wouldn't be drinking so maybe you should just stay home and I'll go." Emily rolled her eyes, tossing the pack of crackers into the lunchbag before Aaron zipped it up, then paused, raising his eyes the same time as Emily looked up to meet his gaze.

Something was wrong. Call it parental instinct. Or maybe novice parenthood vibes. Their usually talkative toddler had been quiet for too long.

They both turned at the same time in the direction of their baby to see Lucas' eyes wide with wonder, staring at his yogurt bowl with various smashed berries tipping over the side of his food tray, landing with a wet splat on the table, right on top of a White House file. Lucas cackled, his arms waving excitedly and his parents watched in horror as his sippy cup landing with stunning accuracy on top of Aaron's cup of coffee, the forward motion tipping the cup and spilling coffee and milk all over his open padfolio.

"_Shit,"_ Aaron rushed to the table to do damage control while Emily hastily removed a mischievously cheerful Lucas from his chair, taking him into her arms before he could wreak any more havoc.

"Babe-_oh."_ She gasped as she felt the cool stickiness of a fruit-yogurt-milk-smeared mouth bump against her neck, no doubt leaving a huge stain on her dress. Wincing, she shifted Lucas so he was facing Aaron, his back leaning against Emily as his legs continued to move in the air.

"Em," Aaron held up a yogurt-drenched file gingerly, grimacing as his wife groaned.

"That was the briefing from State that I was supposed to give the President this morning."

"I know, I'm sorry. Padfolio is salvageable. The papers inside, unfortunately, are not." Lucas began to whine for his milk and Aaron took him from Emily, making sure to hold him carefully so he couldn't spread more yogurt onto his father.

Emily sighed, "Man, we need to sign our kid up to play for the Wizards."

Aaron laughed, bouncing Lucas in his arms as he began mopping up the mess with his free hand.

"I'm going to call Sasha, ask her to have State fax over another copy. Damn, I thought we had this morning routine down."

Aaron brought a finger up to Emily's neck as he scooped away some yogurt and a piece of raspberry from her dress, "You better tell her to cover for us since it looks like we're about to be very late. Don't worry," He kissed her forehead when he caught sight of her expression, "We'll get this down soon enough." Emily wrapped her arm around Aaron's back, Lucas nestled between them as the three of them looked out at the mess that used to be their kitchen table.


End file.
